


Second Skins

by PlotDotOh (TheCheerfulPornographer)



Series: Second Skins [1]
Category: Iron Man (Movies)
Genre: Character Study, Double Drabble, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-05-03
Updated: 2013-05-03
Packaged: 2017-12-10 06:30:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 200
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/782895
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheCheerfulPornographer/pseuds/PlotDotOh
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The thing is: they're all him.  That's what Pepper doesn't get.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Second Skins

The thing is: they're all him. That's what Pepper doesn't get.

Every single suit is just another set of eyes, another pair of hands for Tony to possess. At this point, he feels as disembodied as JARVIS — his soul equally dispersed among so many machines.

She only sees the flesh, but Tony Stark lives in the network. His hands, his eyes, his arc reactors. His implants. And his guns.

So it doesn't really matter what he does to this flesh body. Anyways, it's always been a little bit subpar. So soft, so weak, so chained by gravity. Frankly, the brain is the only bit worth saving. 

None of that matters. Not the insomnia, not the booze. Not the injuries — these days, so often self-inflicted. (Never in a _weird_ way — God no. Just from experiments. Things that are for _science_.)

They're all _him_ , so Tony keeps on building. Because one body almost wasn't enough.

It was so close; they came right up to the edge of failure. And if they'd failed, everything would have been lost.

 _Everything_ would have been lost.

But if he can build himself enough hands and eyes and guns, maybe Tony Stark can finally sleep.

Safe, again.


End file.
